Best of Canada 2013: Female Fighter of the Year

Prior to 2013, no one other than the Queen of Canada Sarah Kaufman would ever be considered the best in Canada. That all changed in 2013, as the Canadian ladies emerged from Kaufman’s shadow and displayed the depth of talent in the great fight north. The following three fighters stood out amongst them all for being the Best Female Fighters in Canada in 2013.

Top MMA News Female Fighter of the Year

1. Alexis DavisAlexis Davis started quickly in 2013 with a submission win over Shayna Baszler in the Fight of the Night at Invicta FC 4 in the first week of the year. That win earned her a contract with the UFC and she made Canadian fight history in Winnipeg on June 15th. In her fight with Rosi Sexton, she became the first Canadian female to fight and to win a UFC fight. In her next UFC bout, Davis won her fourth consecutive bout by outlasting former UFC title challenger Liz Carmouche. In 2013, Davis not only went 3-0, she also put herself into UFC title consideration. She also became Top MMA News’ 2013 Female Fighter of the Year.

2. Julia Budd
British Columbia’s Julia Budd came to prominence in the Women’s Featherweight division in 2013. Following her loss to Ronda Rousey in 2012, Budd has reeled off four wins in Invicta. The most recent two wins came in 2013. First, Budd recorded her first submission victory with a Rear Naked Choke on Mollie Estes. Then, she took on Charmaine Tweet in an all-Canadian matchup and dominated her over three rounds. For her efforts in 2012, Budd went 2-0 and became the obvious number one challenger to Cristiane Cyborg.

3. Jessica Rakoczy
Prior to 2013, MMA fans in Canada did not even realize Jessica Rakoczy was Canadian. In fact, Top MMA News’ headline screamed proudly that four Canadians made The Ultimate Fighter 18 cast. Embarrassingly, the site had to modify the headline to say five after realizing Rakoczy hailed from the Hamilton region. Jessica quickly gained international prominence and became the pride of Canada after reeling off three consecutive victories on The Ultimate Fighter on the way to making the Finale. Unfortunately, after beating Revelina Berto, Roxanne Modafferi, and Raquel Pennington in three exhibition MMA fights, Rakoczy lost the Finale to Julianna Pena. However, for an unknown 1-3 fighter entering 2012, she became a fan favorite who went 3-1 in 2013.